What Do Teacher Candidates Have To Say About Their Clinical Experiences

Field experiences and clinical practice are considered the most important and most influential component of teacher preparation programs. The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs (NCATE) has established six standards to measure the effectiveness of teacher education programs; field experiences and clinical practice represent Standard 3. The NCATE requires that teacher education programs design, implement and, evaluate field experiences and clinical experiences so that teacher candidates can develop as well as demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to help all P-12 pupils learn. According to the NCATE, field experiences constitute an integral component of teacher preparation programs because they allow teacher candidates to apply and reflect on their content, professional, and pedagogical knowledge. There is little disagreement amongst professionals about the significance of clinical experiences. However, at the same time, as ascertained by the Education Commission of the States (ECS), in the context of abundant variety that exists in the design, implementation, and evaluation of field experiences, the research is reticent about what exactly makes a field experience desirable and successful. Driven by the need and motivation to capture the salient attributes of a successful field experience, we conducted a pre-experiment. The findings of our pre-experiment indicate that majority of our teacher candidates agree or strongly agree that the field experience has made a considerable impact on their beliefs about teaching and learning and that it has been a vital component of their teacher preparation. Despite limitations of small sample size and experimenter bias, our study is significant. It has captured the perceptions of teacher candidates about their clinical experiences.

Responding to multiple scholarly, policy, and practical calls for a greater focus on clinical teacher preparation, this volume operates on the assumption that few experiences in future teachers’ training are more important than their field experiences. This text introduces the model of critical, project-based (CPB) clinical experiences, which provides teacher candidates with exemplary on-the-ground training, honors veteran teachers as school-based teacher educators, and offers university-based teacher educators new roles that ensure their practices and scholarship are explicitly relevant to all of schools’ constituents. Answering the call for relevant, high quality, clinically-based teacher education, this volume will offer scholarly and narrative examinations of examples of CPB clinical experiences that will be of interest to all involved in and impacted by educator preparation programs.

National and international teacher education organizations and scholars have called for an increased emphasis on clinical practice in educator preparation programs. These recommendations include specific efforts to increase the duration, diversity, and quality of experiences that teacher candidates engage in during their time in P-12 schools while earning their teaching license. This book includes a robust set of chapters that include conceptual, theoretical, and empirical chapters related to innovative approaches in clinical practice in educator preparation. Authors include teacher educators from around the United States and Canada from a variety of types of higher education institutions. The book provides readers with examples, evidence, and ideas to thoughtfully consider their future direction in examining, planning, and implementing clinical practice experiences for teacher candidates.

Clinical experiences, supported by well-prepared mentor teachers and university-based teacher educators, are essential for developing successful teacher candidates. While the design and structure of these significant learning opportunities often vary among preparation programs, a common feature is teacher candidates work in partnered educational settings engaged in teaching that is closely aligned with coursework and in collaboration with individuals tasked with supporting their growth, development, and entry into the profession. The primary purpose of this text is to provide readers a varied set of examples from teacher preparation programs that have established effective systems, practices, and/or pedagogies to develop and support mentor teachers and university-based educators in becoming effective clinical coaches. The text endeavors to shine a bright light on those programmatic efforts shaping teacher preparation in impactful, meaningful, and sustainable ways. This text will be of primary interest to all those working in organizations, institutes of higher education, alternative licensure programs, and schools and districts involved with the preparation of teacher candidates.

Across settings, teacher education programs utilize innovative practices to prepare teacher candidates, yet rarely is this work shared in a way that is accessible to stakeholders. This book presents exemplary models utilized by universities in a variety of settings, with the objective of sharing with readers a sampling of research-based teacher preparation models that are currently in place at accredited universities and colleges across the country, in an effort to help others that are developing or redesigning their programs. Authors of the included chapters focused on the setting in which their college/university is located. Location impacts every aspect of a clinical model of teacher preparation, including the number and proximity of placements that are available for teacher candidates, access to resources, and diversity of experiences. The authors, in describing their clinical model, address how their location impacts their model, sharing information about the resources to which they have access, how they make use of available resources in potentially unique ways, as well as how they overcome a lack of resources to provide a meaningful and diverse experience for their candidates. Readers will be able to use this book to learn more about how similar colleges/universities are embracing their locations and resources to further the learning of their candidates and to implement these ideas within their own programs. All those involved in teacher preparation – state-level policy makers, university and P-12 administrators, and educators who bridge university and school settings to work together to prepare teacher candidates – will benefit from this book. It can serve as a resource for these individuals to help inform them of how universities and colleges across the country are implementing a clinically-based teacher preparation program so that they have a model for creating, implementing, assessing, and maintaining their own program. Additionally, teacher education faculty and staff may utilize it for help with self-studies and accreditation purposes, and as a text to use within courses in principal and/or superintendent preparatory programs.

This text highlights partnerships between schools and teacher preparation programs where candidates have opportunities to learn in their coursework alongside teachers in the classroom in clinical settings, bridging the theory?practice divide and helping candidates better understand the simultaneous and multi?dimensional nature of teaching and learning in schools. All of the authors in this text describe how their programs go beyond informal arrangements and include a collaborative relationship between the school and university. As a Handbook of Resources, this text provides details about roles, relationships, expectations, organizational structures, and the challenges of partnerships, which will help those who wish to establish a clinically?based model and move confidently from vision to implementation. The authors of the chapters clearly describe the details of their partnerships so their stories can be a resource for others in similar contexts or situations. In doing so, each chapter highlights the different ways to develop partnerships, as well as provides opportunities for universities, schools, and districts with established partnerships to share their stories, wisdom, and expertise and offer inspiration, encouragement, and ideas. The authors of these chapters acknowledge the tensions inherent in the process of developing, implementing, and sustaining an effective, viable partnership by providing insight into how challenges are addressed at different stages of a partnership and what benefits, successes, and differing perspectives exist in this type of relationship. There are a variety of schools represented in this body of work??rural, suburban, private, public, large research intensive, and small private. By design, we believe any school can find themselves in this text as the authors offer suggestions and ideas that can be implemented in other structures. With that said, we want to emphasize that the examples provided are meant to inspire creativity and possibility as programs develop partnerships rather than offer a wholesale approach or a recipe. Viewing the reader as the expert at their institution, this text offers insights into ways to shape the ideas and structures to fit their context.

Both higher education and P-12 faculty play a critical role in the preparation of new teachers, yet they have traditionally operated in silos. This book, designed to be read and applied immediately, will help teacher preparation programs and schools work together to best prepare preservice teachers. This is accomplished by clearly describing the roles and responsibilities of both groups of stakeholders, specifically with a focus on the preparation of the mentor teacher. The author outlines ways for schools and teacher preparation programs to collaboratively choose, train, and support mentor teachers, along with suggestions for connecting P-12 and higher education faculty more regularly. Driskill provides a replicable blueprint that has been put into practice and found to be effective. School districts and teacher preparation programs can use the blueprint to reform clinical practice, which ultimately puts more highly qualified teachers in more classrooms. Book Features: Offers a proven-effective method for preparing and supporting mentor teachers in clinical practice. Focuses on what exactly clinical practice entails, including the roles and responsibilities of teacher prep programs and P-12 schools. Explores how mentor teachers are currently identified versus how they should be identified. Outlines topics and strategies for initial training and ongoing support for mentor teachers. ● Contains specific steps both school districts and teacher preparation programs can take to form successful partnerships.

For decades teacher education researchers, organizations, and policy makers have called for improving teacher education by creating clinically based preparation programs (e.g. CAEP, 2013; Goodlad, 1990; Holmes, 1986, 1995; National Association for Professional Development Schools, 2008; National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Educators, 2001, 2010; Zeichner, 1990). According to the NCATE Blue Ribbon Report (2010), this approach requires extensive opportunities for prospective teachers to connect and apply what they learn from school and university based teacher educators. Similar to preparing medical professionals, clinical practice in teacher education requires the complex and time intensive work of supporting teacher candidate ability to link theory, research, and practice as well as on-going inquiry into best pedagogical practices. Therefore, clinically intensive programs expect prospective teachers to blend practitioner and academic knowledge throughout their programs as "they learn by doing" (NCATE, 2010, p.ii). However, most of the literature to date on clinical practice has been conceptual and often relies on describing program design. The purpose of this book is move past description to study and understand what teacher education programs are learning from research about innovative clinical models of teacher education. Each book chapter highlights research about how programs are studying a variety of outcomes of clinical practice. After an introductory chapter that helps to define and situate clinical practice in teacher education, the book is organized into four sections: (1) Outcomes of New Roles, (2) Outcomes of New Practices, (3) Outcomes of New Coursework/Fieldwork Configurations, and (4) Outcomes of New Program Configurations. The book wraps up with a discussion that looks across the chapters to find common themes, share implications for teacher educators, and set the course for future research.

Given the increasing diversity of the United States and students entering schools, the value of teacher learning in clinical contexts, and the need to elevate the profession, national organizations have been calling for a re-envisioning of teacher preparation that turns teacher education upside down. This change will require PK-12 schools and universities to partner in robust ways to create strong professional learning experiences for aspiring teachers. University faculty, in particular, will not only need to work?in?schools, but they will need to work?with?schools in the preparation of future teachers. This collaboration should promote greater equity and justice for our nation’s students. The purpose of this book is to support individuals in designing clinically based teacher preparation programs that place equity at the core. Drawing from the literature as well as our experiences in designing and coordinating award-winning teacher?education programs, we offer a vision for equity-centered, clinically based preparation that promotes powerful teacher professional learning and develops high-quality, equity-centered teachers for schools. The chapter topics include policy guidelines, partnerships, intentional clinical experiences, coherence, curriculum and coursework, university-based teacher educators, school-based teacher educators, teacher candidate supervision and evaluation, the role of research, and instructional leadership in teacher preparation. While the concepts we share are research-based and grounded in the empirical literature, our primary intention is for this book to be of practical use. We hope that by the time you finish reading, you will feel inspired and equipped to make change within your own program, your institution, and your local context. We begin each chapter with a “Before You Read” section that includes introductory activities or self-assessment questions to prompt reflection about the current state of your teacher preparation program. We also weave examples, a “Spotlight from Practice,” in the form of vignettes designed to spark your thinking for program improvement. Finally, we conclude each chapter with a section called “Exercises for Action,” which are questions or activities to help you (re)imagine and move toward action in the (re)design of your teacher preparation program. We hope that you will use the exercises by yourself, but perhaps more importantly, with others to stimulate conversations about how you can build upon what you are already doing well to make your program even better. Praise for (Re)Designing Programs: A Vision for Equity-Centered, Clinically Based Teacher Preparation: "Jennifer Jacobs and Rebecca West Burns’ book, “(Re)Designing Programs: A Vision for Equity-Centered, Clinically Based Teacher Preparation,” is a must-read for all teacher educators, especially those involved in the creation and/or direction of clinically based teacher education programs. Their text provides a roadmap for higher education and school-based teacher educators to collaboratively design a program that prepares teachers to meet the needs of future students. They not only redefine the terms and language we use within clinical practice programs but also encourage us to reflect upon how teachers should be prepared in an equity-centered, clinically based teacher education program. Their text deserves to be on the book shelves of all teacher educators." - D. John McIntyre

As with any industry, the education sector goes through frequent changes due to modern technological advancements. It is every educator’s duty to keep up with these shifting requirements and alter their teaching style to best fit the needs of their classroom. Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Education: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications explores the current state of pre-service teacher programs as well as continuing education initiatives for in-service educators. It also emphasizes the growing role of technology in teacher skill development and training as well as key pedagogical developments and methods. Highlighting a range of topics such as teacher preparation programs, teaching standards, and fieldwork and practicum experiences, this multi-volume book is designed for pre-service teachers, teacher educators, researchers, professionals, and academics in the education field.